Leadership in UN Field Missions
Order Description
Please write as below instruction.
Max 1000 words.
DBA Research Proposal Outline
In the application form you are asked to provide an outline of your proposed research programme. This should
include an outline of the research questions/area, aims of the project, methodology (if known), potential impact of
the research and some key background literature/references in a maximum word length of 1500 words. This is
intended as an indication of the sorts of materials that we would find useful in assessing the research aspect of
your application.
Please remember, however, that this is an initial proposal; some course members keep to it as the basis for their
thesis, some modify it as time goes by and some end up in a completely different direction when they come to
develop their actual thesis. We find this research proposal gives us a good opportunity to discuss your intended
area of research with us.
1. The title: Can you develop a title for your proposed research that captures the essence of your research and
is in 12 words or less?
2. Introduction: In the introduction you would provide the overall context in which this research is to be
undertaken. This could include the organisational or other situation that you wish to explore and any other
contextual information that you feel would be useful. You should then provide an overview of the main goals
and objectives of your research.
3. An indicative review of relevant literature: You can now give a review of the literature you have
encountered so far that shows how you have developed an understanding of the key issues that will be
significant in the development of your research. As you develop the literature review remember that you will
be looking for gaps in the literature that you can explore as the research develops and also show that you
are looking at the literature in a critical and sceptical manner.
4. Research Methodology and Design: At this stage in the development of your application and proposal you
may only have an indication of your research methodology and design in which case your ideas in this
section are indicative. Some of you however may be coming to the DBA with a clearer idea of your
methodology so this is an opportunity to discuss it.
5. How you understand the research will develop: In this section you can speculate how you see your
research developing. What at this early stage do you see as your potential contribution to
professional/management practice and (where appropriate) knowledge?
6. How you see the research proposal and your thesis as part of your own learning and development: In